A Very Old Sketch

In other postings I've mentioned my process of reviewing previous works, mostly as a way to look at past techniques and accomplishments. It's also a way to gauge how skills and ideas change over time. So here is a really old sketch I ran across not long ago. 

This about 8x10 graphite sketch depicts Stewart, who was 96 or 97 at the time. We were guests in the same house and often spent an hour or two on the front porch after breakfast. Although he was a relatively abstemious man, Stewart allowed himself one cigar every morning. So he and I sat and discussed many things. Born with the century that was fading, he'd been a bit too young for the first World War and a bit too old for the second. But he had spent nearly a century working and observing the world. Stewart was still mentally very sharp though physically his age was obvious. Even now, a quarter century later, I remember his quick laugh and mischievous demeanor. 

Sketching is visual journaling.

Plein Air at Whiterock

As the second of my three weeks as Artist in Residence approaches, the experience has begun to take on weight and depth. One of the great features of this residency, for a plein air landscape painter, is the enormous variety of subject matter. There is a century-old barn, the river, wildflowers galore, old-growth woods, and a lot more. The ability to explore using a small all-terrain-vehicle has been priceless--I can load up my plein air gear and go nearly any place in this vast, rich Conservancy.

"Whiterock Bluff," oil on panel, 9x12

Whiterock Barn," oil on panel, 9x12

Artist in Residence

Hoff, "On the Middle Raccoon," wc on paper

During the week before this posting I've been Artist in Residence here at the Whiterock Conservancy, an Iowa land trust working toward conservation, sustainable agriculture, education and recreation. Situated on the Middle Raccoon River near Coon Rapids, the Conservancy comprises about 5500 acres of river valley, prairie, savanna and farmland. Much of the Conservancy was part of the Garst farm which famously hosted Nikita Khrushchev in the 1950s. The Conservancy aims to save our remaining topsoil, restore soil health, and educate the public and private sectors.

The River House, Whiterock Conservancy

Residency here includes housing in a wonderful, century-old farmhouse (with studio) situated in the Middle Raccoon River valley, only a few dozen yards from the river. The Middle Raccoon There is an equally old barn (see below) and other buildings on the site. Wildflowers abound along the river bank and hiking trails. Trails for hiking, horseback riding and cycling provide a network leading into the spectacular landscape along the river and take you through oak savanna and restored prairie as well. The undisturbed quiet is therapeutic, the surroundings too. I've managed a number of plein air sessions involving both oil and watercolor as well as studio paintings, and before leaving will have taken scores of reference photos.

Hoff, "Whiterock Barn," oil on panel, 9x12

As part of residency at the Conservancy I'll also be facilitating plein air painting workshops the afternoon of August 25 and morning of August 26. The focus will be on outdoor oil painting, but artists in other media are certainly welcome. I'll be doing demonstrations and assisting participants.

Mainframe Studios in Des Moines is a cosponsor of the workshops and will hold a show and auction of participants' works at their facility during their First Friday event September 2.

Summer

"Mountain Stream," oil on canvas

Outdoor work--painting, gardening too--becomes a huge part of the day during the warm months. Unfortunately, the last month or so has been hotter than usual, limiting outdoor activity to early mornings, mostly. So studio work is a big portion of my schedule.  

One of my summer projects that is probably finished is a fairly large landscape "Mountain Stream." Although it's based on several references, this is an imaginary scene painted to evoke crisp, cool mountains, perhaps the Alleghenies or Adirondacks. The major interest for me is how angled light filters through distant boles and foliage, only to rebound from the surface of water, shore, and even the bottom of the brook. This was in the end a study of light and water and how they interact.

The studio is likely to get a lot of use during the rest of the summer, but for three weeks (starting in a few days) I'll be Artist in Residence at the Whiterock Conservancy here in central Iowa. Their dedication to conservation, sustainable agriculture, recreation and education provides interested artists and scientists opportunities for concentrated work and thought at the Conservancy, an enormous place encompassing farmland, the Middle Raccoon River, and many plein air opportunities. I'll post from there a time or two.

Naked Ladies

Here in Iowa there is a plant called "naked ladies" that suddenly emerges, sans leaves, about this time of summer, showing pink, lily-like flowers. They're also called "surprise lilies" or "resurrection lilies." One of our sketch group saw an astonished array of them here in the city, a glowing cloud of pink in a sunny meadow. There were hundreds and hundreds of them, some in full flower, some just up and still in bud. Intrigued, the sketch group spent some time there painting and drawing last Saturday afternoon. 

Most of our group chose to focus on the mass of flowers in the meadow, interested in their forms or colors. And the majority of the group sat in the shade (just out of sight to the right of my composition) to do so, facing me. Although the mass of flowers is what drew the group, I actually eliminated the majority of them and focused on the woods behind.

For me, the bright contrast of the house in the dark trees was compelling and the carpet of flowers at the base made an interesting contrast. This view gave me an opportunity to emulate three dimensions on a flat page. If you look closely there are seven or eight levels in this watercolor. The sketchbook gives an opportunity to paint onto both pages when the composition is vertical, so in this case the painting is about 14x5, emphasizing the height of these old trees.

State Fair Memories

Since the pandemic began in early '20, the Iowa State Fair has been absent from my schedule. The first year it was cancelled and last year seemed too early to go, so far as I was concerned. This year's Fair began yesterday with the traditional parade and much of the previous hoopla. Again this year, as the covid pandemic continues (if blunted somewhat) it still seems too early to be in huge groups of people. That's too bad because the Fair offers so many opportunities for sketching, people watching, serious food-tasting, and the like. These sketches are memories of Fairs past.

"Outside the Grandstand," ink/wc

The Grand Concourse runs through the heart of the fairgrounds. There are often dense crowds.

The cupola in the sketch on the left is the top of Pioneer Hall, one of my favorite buildings at the Fair. The Hall houses all manner of "old-time" exhibits--a blacksmith shop, a letterpress shop, people working with antique things like a spinning wheel and so on. It's an enormous frame building and probably at least a century old. The sky ride gondola is a nice contrast.

One of the amenities of the Fair is the tram service. Throughout the 11 days a tram service circles the entire fairgrounds, pulled by enormous green tractors driven by volunteer groups. The tram is a great way to get an overview of the gigantic event, which encompasses everything from animal exhibitions and competition to fine art exhibitions. 

Perhaps next year will bring a chance to return to the Fair in all of it's smelly, tasty, glitzy, sentimental glory.

Weekend Watercolors

Although the weather here in Iowa has been sultry, at best--not a word often used to describe our climate--the Saturday sketchers were diligent and faithful last Saturday. We went to one of the local parks despite the triple digit heat, and sketched a bicycle path passing into the park from Gray's Lake. 

The heat was made bearable by a semi-cool breeze that eddied into the deep shade where I sat. The bicycle path was surprisingly busy with single cyclists and groups. I actually did two quick ink and wash sketches in watercolor. The first was a wider view and included lots of sky; the second was a smaller sketch in a 5x9 sketchbook. 

"Bike Path," wc on paper, about 8x10

"Bike Path Too," wc on paper, 6x9

Striper Time

A little over three years ago I had the pleasure of spending a few days at a plein air workshop with my friend Garin Baker. Garin lives along the Hudson River maybe 60 miles north of Manhattan. Besides being a master artist and teacher, Garin is also an avid fisherman. Here on the river, not far above West Point, spring and early summer mean striped bass are running and Garin and his buddies fish for these big fighters in Newburgh Bay. A loose group of men and women spends many mornings working the river, fishing for stripers as they move upstream to spawn. 

Garin Baker, "Remains of Fall," oil on canvas

The spot where the striper fishermen spend their mornings is a favorite painting location for Garin (see above), and we spent two days painting there and one at another locale. It's a beautiful spot on the shore of Newburgh Bay, which is actually a very wide spot in the river. Downstream is the round top of Storm King Mountain, and beyond that, to the south is West Point. The fishermen gather along the point of land and cast their bait far into the current, angling for a strike. We set up all along the shoreline and painted most of two days.

Hoff, "Hudson River Newburgh Bay," oil on panel

The group of a dozen or so painters made two paintings a day. My 9x12 oil sketch of the bay (above) looks as if a flock of birds is flying over the water, but in reality those are gnats caught in my paint. The day wasn't very sunny. Later in the year I made another painting of the Hudson, based on the studies from Garin's workshop. 

Hoff, "Striper Time," oil on panel

Sketching

Sketching, unlike a finished painting or drawing, is immediate, brief by definition, and generally intended to capture a fleeting impression or idea. The sketcher often only has a few minutes before their subject disappears or the light or weather changes. Crowds are constantly moving; so is water. Sketching forces the artist to observe sharply and paint or make marks accurately and quickly. 

A good example of a quickly drawn but incomplete sketch is a small graphite image of one of the Principal Building, a dominant downtown building here in Des Moines. Towering over its neighbors, the building has a fairly complicated architecture that must be drawn with accuracy. This sketch took about an hour in a one of my sketchbooks. I often use toned paper to provide a middle value to set darks and lights against. The purpose of this sketch was simply to study the building's structure. Anyone making an image of the city needs to make an accurate image of this one.
 

 

Another study of downtown buildings provides context and an understanding of surrounding structures. The dominant building of course is still the Principal. In this case I used white chalk to provide a more structural look.
 

Finally, here's a watercolor sketch of the Des Moines skyline, from last Saturday's sketch session. We went to a park just south of the Raccoon River, overlooking downtown, and painted. The day was sultry, the south wind warm but slightly cooling. I laid in the shapes faintly with graphite pencil, painted broad color shapes then refined the outlines here and there with ink. With this kind of sketch plus various graphite studies, there's probably enough information to use in a studio oil painting.